Odd Angles
by P.B. Fluff
Summary: A set of drabbles and one shots centering on Gunther, Jane and possibly Dragon and maybe some G/J romantical stuff.
1. Chapter 1: The Flower Thief

Disclaimer: don't own it.

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><p>The night has been an eventful one, but Gunther takes the long way back home for one last event. The grave is an elaborate statue and Gunther hates it. It is everything to do with his father and nothing to do with his mother, he knows. It is all pageantry and for show. It is not for her.<p>

From what he can remember, his mother didn't care as much for the elaborate sorts of shows of riches that his father lusted over. He can remember arguments they'd had, shouting matches, where his mother would cry she didn't need another fancy dress but could they possibly spare the money to train Gunther as a knight since that was what he wanted most?

That had been when he was six, he'd wanted to be a knight since he'd been able to speak the word. His father had not approved. He'd wanted Gunther to take over the family business. His mother however had argued that his being a knight could be good for the family name and besides, they might yet have other sons.

They never did have any other children. That had been another sore point for them, Gunther knew. It, along with several other sore points that had developed between his parents, had been the last thing they'd argued about, well, the last thing his father and mother had spoken about really, five years prior when his mother had left to visit her sister. His mother had said she was visiting her sister to give her some company, Gunther's aunt had five children, and her husband, also a merchant in a different part of the kingdom, was away from home often and for long periods of time. Even then he'd known it had been likely his mother wouldn't be coming back, visiting her sister simply provided a respectable excuse for his parents to live apart.

His mother's tears the night before her departure had not done anything to quell his suspicions. "Hand me that last shawl, dear," she'd said shakily to Gunther as she packed her things. "I think that should do it." She wiped a single betraying tear from her face and looked him in the eye as she took the garment from him and had said, "Gunther dear, are you alright my boy?"

"When will you be coming back?" he'd asked.

The look on her face had said, "Never" but her reply was, "I – I'm not sure, dear. Caroline says she's fine, but her husband writes she's been rather ill since the birth of your last little cousin. It may be a while before she's fully able to take care of herself and the little ones again." She frowned at the look on his face.

"Why do you have to go?" he'd asked, his mouth betraying him. He hated that his emotions were getting the better of him, that he was whimpering like a small child, but the thought of the Breech household being void of the only person in it who'd given him any comfort or joy was almost too much to take. And not for the first time, did he wonder if perhaps the rampages of his father, the brunt of which his mother often bore, would be now fully unleashed on him. The thought had given him nightmares.

She wavered for a moment. "Sweetheart.."

"He hates me. I know it. I can't stay here without you."

She bit her lip, seeming to read his mind. "Darling he doesn't hate you, your father just... likes to get things his way."

It was Gunther's turn to bite his lip, biting back the tears slipping down his cheeks.

She hugged him then, "Oh sweetheart, it will be alright. Hopefully your aunt Caroline will be better soon and we will see each other again soon. In the meantime though, it won't be so bad. You'll see. You've started your knight's training at the castle, you'll be so busy, you and your father will be happy to see each other any chance you can get. You'll see."

He pushed her away. "We won't. He's only happy to see me now because I'm old enough to help with some of the merchandise. And he's only happy I'm training to be a knight because he thinks this will give him a better connection at the castle. But no one likes me there mother, and it's only a matter of time before father finds that out and gets angry. And you know what he's like when he's angry."

She cradled his face in her hands for a moment, the worry etched on her features.

"Look darling, I won't lie to you. I wanted to take you with me. But your father would not let it stand. There was only so much I could do, I'm lucky he's letting me take the carriage to watch my sister die – don't look like that, I didn't want to tell you, but I'm certain it's serious. I wouldn't leave you if I wasn't. I tried to make him let me take you, but he would not hear a word of it. He insisted he needed you here, and besides, you would miss so much of your training. I could hardly argue with that."

Gunther nodded. She could have argued, and he figured she very likely had, but arguing with Magnus Breech was a dangerous affair. This he and his mother both knew.

He sniffled. "If... if Aunt Caroline d-dies, will you stay to help raise her children?"

His mother bit her lip again. "If the family needs the help, yes, Gunther. I will stay as long as needed." She pulled him against her again, tight this time, hugging him so hard it nearly hurt. "But I promise you, child. If that happens, I will do everything in my power to come back for you. I have written to Caroline's husband. He knows of a few knights in his area who might be willing to take apprentices. They might not be as good as Sir Ivon, but they are respectable men. But until then, you must stay, my darling. Your father refuses to give up your help, and I refuse to let you give up your dream."

"I don't care about being a knight!" Gunther burst out. "Please don't make me stay!"

"We both know that's a lie dear. And you know I've already tried. For now, my dear, we must weather on. What is it your uncle always said after coming back on every ship he ever sailed?"

Gunther rubbed vigorously at his left eye and grudgingly supplied, "Even the worst storms pass."

"That's right. Even the worst storms pass. You just have to get through it. I can't promise you it won't be bad sometimes. But it will pass. And I know that when it does, you are going to be the bravest knight in all the realm."

Gunther said nothing, the tears still burning hot tracks down his cheeks.

"Now. Can I get a good bye kiss from the kingdom's bravest knight?"

Gunther kissed her on the cheek and in return, she gave a dewy kiss to his forehead and sniffed.

"Now. The brave knight needs a favor from the lady," she whispered, taking out her handkerchief and wiping Gunther's cheeks with it before slipping it into his small hand. "Be strong my dear. You are stronger than your father knows."

He remembers that the most now putting the chrysanthemums in front of the gravestone, next to the roses. It is the fifth year since a sentry had rode up bearing the news to his father – his mother hadn't gotten farther than two miles before the carriage had been robbed and everyone traveling in it, brutally murdered.

He still suspects his father. After all, it hadn't been more than three months after the death of his mother that Magnus Breech had started looking for a new wife. He hadn't had much success. Kippernium was a small kingdom, with few young women not already married and most fathers seemed unimpressed with Magnus's boastful proclamations of what he could provide their daughters. He suspects his father and he hates that day, for he feels that in it, he lost both a mother and a father. He does not have his mother anymore and he cannot trust his father anymore. He supposes it's entirely plausible his mother's carriage had been raided by enemies. The Breech name after all, does have quite a few enemies, given the swindling the Breech men have become famous for.

Ever since that day, Gunther begins every day wondering if he lives with the man responsible for his mother's death. And the fact that Magnus will not speak much at all of the event nearly confirms his suspicions. At first, Gunther had thought to run away. Even now he considers stealing one of the king's horses and disappearing. But he knows stealing a king's horse would mean the king would employ everyone, including that redhead and her dragon to find him and they most certainly would. He could get away on foot perhaps, but if he were caught, he'd be hanged as a deserting knight, a traitor to the kingdom. So Gunther remakes the decision to stay again, as he has for the last five years, and every day, does what he can to stay in his father's good graces, knowing most of what the man is capable of, and being terrified of the suspicions he has that cannot be confirmed.

Every day he wakes up wondering how much longer until the life he hates can change.

He thinks of this all as he clears away a few more leaves from his mother's gravestone, being sure to make ELIZABETH BREECH, fully legible. He kneels down beside the stone and wonders just how much longer this storm is going to last.

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><p>Reviews are awesome sauce.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2: Ridiculous

Thanks to those who have read and reviewed so far, I'm glad folks have enjoyed! This may or may not turn into a set of drabbles that are loosely linked depending on a lot of variables including, but not limited to life, the universe, and everything. No promises, but stay tuned if you're so inclined.

The following has been done before, and, IMHO, done better by Casa Circe in her ficlet also here on ff, "A Lingering Notion", but I had to get this out of my system. Gunther's thoughts on Jane after "Mismatched".

Don't own the characters.

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><p><em>"Jane... likes... me?" <em>

Even months after the whole "sweethearts" nonsense, Gunther still remembers the way that thought first flittered through his mind and knows in his heart, though hates to acknowledge it, that in that one moment he'd felt something bubbling up inside of his chest annoyingly akin to hope. Which is ridiculous. He'd even said so. "_It takes so much hard work to like her back."_

Liking Jane was difficult. It was perhaps cowardly, childish and a number of other adjectives Sir Theodore would probably be happier to supply, but throughout the whole sweethearts affair, Gunther had discovered a rather prickly truth: it was easier to be unpleasant to Jane. Which was ridiculous, since Jane was usually pleasant to everyone else, even, for a time, after she'd gotten used to his sudden displays of gallantry, pleasant towards him. But Gunther had never been very good at breaking bad habits. Making fun of Jane was a bad habit. It was also easier than having to be pleasant. Less pleasant banter also had another advantage in the result of less thoughts that bear a striking similarity to the thought of the possibility of Jane liking him.

Thoughts that were ridiculous. Like what it might be like to touch her hair.

Or that it was admirable how she always tried to do the right thing, no matter what.

Or how often he got distracted when sparring with her thanks to those hypnotic green eyes.

He shakes his head back to reality, away from those thoughts that have plagued him. Ridiculous, he thinks. Jane is pushy, stubborn, pig headed and completely annoying. She is. She also, is not without any good qualities. Gunther knows it's simply easier to acknowledge the bad.

_Ridiculous_. Besides, she's already made it clear she has no romantic feelings for him. There's no reason to try to make himself like her.

_Yes, but you've been thinking about that hair of hers for far longer than the sweethearts business_, he thinks to himself.

_Ridiculous_. It's hardly an answer, but it's the best he can come up with at the moment to keep his thoughts in line.

He needs his wits about him sparring with Jane again. She is not as strong, but she is faster, which annoyingly seems to give her some advantage.

She backs him against the wall with her stave, and he supposes it's the angle he's seeing her at, because for a moment an even worse thought crosses his mind, _what would it be like to kiss Jane?_

He banishes the thought immediately, it must be the result of Dragon having made all those absurd kissing noises. But he feels the flush coming on anyway and remembers the words he'd spoken in the arena: _"Well, you know how I feel about you, you must know"_.

Thank heavens she doesn't, since he doesn't either. And how annoying would that be, if she figured it out before he did?

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><p>Reviews are very much appreciated. Thanks for reading!<p> 


	3. Chapter 3: Conversations on the Wind

Thanks to all who've read and reviewed so far! Very much appreciated!

This story takes place about 4 years after the events in the show, so Jane is about 16, Gunther 18, etc.

Disclaimer: don't own

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><p>Gunther is torn. He had never thought to have so many conflicting emotions coursing through him at one time and especially not in regards to <em>her<em>. And yet here he is, emotions conflicting. It is all very strange.

Part of him wants to smash in a few doors on her behalf. The other part wants to hold her while she cries, ridiculous as that sounds. He doesn't do either of these things though. He simply listens.

She is in her tower, crying her eyes out to Dragon who is listening sympathetically. He cannot hear much of their conversation, which is, the decent part of his brain tells him, only fair and appropriate. Jane is entitled to privacy, the same as anyone else. Just because he'd like to know what's going on under that ginger mane of hers doesn't mean he can eavesdrop.

But the breeze, which is light that day, but blowing seemingly from her tower room into the courtyard, seems to have different ideas and Gunther catches a snatch of conversation carried by the subtle wind.

"Now, now, is it really worth getting this upset over?" Dragon's voice.

Wind muffles the next words, then, "... but why didn't he tell me before?" Jane's voice.

Dragon says something into the wind Gunther cannot hear and Jane's reply is, "But to find out like that... just I saw them together and it, surprised me. That's all. Yes. A very unpleasant surprise."

"Are you sure that's all that upset you?"

He can hear Jane sniffling and he has abandoned all pretense of practicing archery and is now shamelessly listening, having moved closer to her tower. If someone hurt Jane...

"I- yes, what else could it be? I am sure. That's all it is."

Pause.

"No I am not sure! What... I don't know what to make of it Dragon! What does he see in her? And why didn't he tell me? And why-"

"Why isn't Jingle Boy kissing you instead of that big eyed weaver?"

"I – that is not it at all!"

"Uh-huh."

"It isn't!"

"Right. Sure. Believe me, if there was anyone I thought Jingle Boy was smitten with, it was you, but then she came along and..."

"Dragon!"

"Look, Jane, you're jealous. It's ok. Just admit it. You'll feel better if you do."

"I am not jealous!"

"Are too."

"I am not! I'm just – disappointed."

"Why, do you like him? You know, like likey like?"

"I – I didn't – I don't know! And I'm so confused now, how could I possibly figure it out? And you said he was – why didn't he tell me?"

"Oh, well, I dunno, why don't you just go bang on his door and tell him you're jealous? Come on, I think you shortlives are ridiculous with your feelings and such nonsense, but even I know it's hard to admit things like that. And it's not as though Blue was exactly subtle all these years. He's dropped you hints, Jane. BIG. GAPING. ANVIL SIZED HINTS!"

"I know! I just... I guess I didn't want it to mean anything. I – I was so grateful for our friendship, I never wanted things to change. But – but he could have waited for me!"

"To do what?"

"I don't know... to figure it out?"

"Right, and that's worked so well these past four years."

"But it's selfish to-"

"No, you know what's selfish Jane? Expecting everyone to work on your timeline. And being angry with a friend who's found some happiness. You want to stay friends, you'll apologize to him for yelling and make things right."

"Why are you taking his side?"

"Be honest, Jane. Did you want to be Mrs. Jingle before today?"

"Stop with the silly names!"

"Did you?"

"Alright, not really, no. But-"

"Ah ah, no. Good. And do you now? Answer me truthfully."

Silence. "No. Not really."

"Then whatever is the problem?"

He could hear Jane sigh. "I don't know! I'm just – Dragon, I don't know if I want to grow up. All this complicated romance stuff , Rake and Pepper engaged, Smithy courting that village girl. It's not like it used to be. I miss that, Dragon."

"I miss it too. I miss twelve year old Jane. But you know? Sixteen year old Jane is pretty great too. And I'm betting seventeen year old Jane will be even better and so will eighteen year old Jane and nineteen year old Jane, and twenty year old Jane and -"

"Dragon!" Jane's laugh drifts down from the tower.

"Come on. You're aging well. Just like a Dragon. You'll be like a fine wine. Or cheese. Cheese gets better with age I'm told. Or was that cows?"

She laughs again and the fist that had clenched around Gunther's heart loosens. Perhaps he won't have to beat up that insufferable Jester after all.

"It's just -"

"What?"

"It's nothing."

"Jaaaaaaaaaane. Come on. Out with it."

"Alright. It's silly but, part of me thinks, 'what if Jester was the only one who wanted to be with me? And what if I blew it? What if I'll never marry?'"

"Do you want to marry?"

"I don't know! Certainly not now. Or even soon at least. But maybe. Someday."

"So you're upset because you might not get something you aren't really sure you want with someone you don't think you really want."

"When you put it that way, it sounds even sillier than it did in my head."

"Dragons are good for that, you know."

She laughs again. "I know."

"Now, shall we patrol? Or do you want to wander about more locked corridors to find young couples snogging? Pepper and Rake might be at it in the kitchens you know."

"Dragon!"

"Or what about that Lady Friend Gunther said he had?"

"Dragon enough!"

"What?"

"Oh, nevermind. The patrolling. I think I'm good with patrolling. Let's go, greenlips."

She laughs again, and Gunther barely has time to scramble back to where he was standing before and resume his practicing of archery. Jane doesn't seem to spare him a second glance as she and Dragon ascend into the sky, and as they do, Gunther feels something else rise inside him and lodge itself firmly next to his heart.

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><p>Hope you enjoyed this one. Review please!<p> 


	4. Chapter 4: In Gunther We Trust

Thanks for the reads and reviews. As always, hope folks are enjoying.

Whee, Jane's POV for this story!

A bit of a heads up for this story, they're a bit older here, Jane 17 and Gunther 19 and both have been knighted, Gunther almost a year prior, and Jane just a bit before the start of this story. I've no idea when someone would have been knighted back in the day, whether someone's technically becoming an "adult" by whatever arbitrary standard they may have had back then had a bearing on it, or if it was all on readiness for the trials of knighthood. So considering girls married as young as 12 back then, I figured, at least in the fictional land of Kippernium, it would sort of be a combination of both – if someone was at least 16 and ready, they would pass. SO I figured since Gunther often seemed to be behind in his knightly studies because he often had to help his father, he would pass the tests a year before Jane, even though he's two years older.

Disclaimer: don't own.

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><p>"That's going to be about as pleasant as a stick in the eye. A whole week alone with Gunther. It's a good thing you'll have me along. That way at least one of you will make it back alive."<p>

"Dragon!" Jane scolded as she laughed.

"What?"

"Try to be optimistic. It won't be that bad," she said. "Hopefully," she added.

Dragon shrugged as best he could while flapping his wings. "Right. Optimistic. It'll be just as lovely as these patrol flights we take. Lovely as cake."

"Dragon," Jane scolded again. "Come on, Dragon. This is my first mission as a knight. This is the first time I'll be without Sir Theodore to break up our fights. I'm trying to keep my spirits up about this. The least you can do is try to do the same for my sake."

"Alright, alright. Fine." Dragon relented. "Maybe it won't be so bad."

"Right. It won't." Pause. "You and Gunther really have gotten on sometimes."

Pause. "Well – yeah. We've had our moments. Fellow has got himself a decent sense of humor."

Jane laughed.

"The man knows his way around a good dung joke, that's for sure."

"Well, I'd prefer not to have a week of that either."

"Now come on. I have a right to indulge the only good quality he's got."

"Gunther has... other good qualities."

"Like..."

"He is a capable knight. He – he _has_ gotten better. He doesn't tease me so much anymore. And he _did_ save me that one time."

"When?"

"When you were sick! We went up to that mountain to pick the skyleaf and I saw it and got so excited I ran towards it. I didn't realize there was a drop off. Gunther saved my life. And he helped you too, Dragon. Getting the skyleaf."

_And he looked rather handsome bringing it back_, her thoughts interjected. Jane mentally shook herself. _Those_ sorts of thoughts had been popping into her mind lately at very inopportune times. Like now, when she was perched hundreds of feet in the air on the back of a dragon on patrol duty. Or when sparring with the knight in question. _Especially_ when she was sparring with Gunther. It was fortunate in a way that they no longer sparred as much now that they had both been knighted and had other duties to attend to.

Dragon seemed to consider her words.

"Why didn't you tell me he saved your life before?"

"I did!"

"Did not. I think I'd have remembered something like that. I'd have thought he was insufferable, but at least sort of decent all these years. Rather than mostly insufferable and indecent."

"Well, sorry, I guess there was a lot else going on that day. I was just happy you were well. But he did save my life. And he's done the right thing in the end loads of other times. And openly defying his father when he tried to swindle the king yet again just last year, that can't have been easy to do. His father told him he could stay away for all he cared. He's lucky King Caradoc gave him quarters at the castle. Mind, he was only two weeks from his knight's test."

"Yes yes, he's a right tragic hero alright."

"I don't know if I would go _that_ far." _Would she?_ "Still, he's gotten loads better since then."

"Obvious you're growing up. Here he's not tormenting you as much and here you're willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. You know, I almost miss it the other way round. At least before it was easy to just dislike him. Now you're all diplomatic, I've got to be too. It's more complicated this way. That's no fun."

_Complicated_, she thought. _Tell me about it._

She was dreading the scouting mission to the neighboring kingdom rumored to be building a huge army bent on destroying Kippernium not only because it meant spending a _lot_ of time with her childhood nemesis, but because of her thoughts of said nemesis that had become... _odd_ lately. She was dreading it – oh what if somehow she gave herself away? And over Gunther? She didn't think she could stand the embarrassment. And he probably would never let her live it down. Some old habits died hard, she knew.

Like her habit to still suspect him of foul play whenever he complimented her. Which had been happening more and more often lately. Or her inclination to inch away from him, for fear he had some trick up his sleeve whenever he came near, though he hadn't pulled a trick on her in years and now only came near to help her carry weaponry or to help her with whatever other tasks she'd been assigned. Truly he'd turned into a team player. If she was being totally objective, Jane had to admit, he was... actually sort of a decent fellow now. Still stand off-ish. Still somewhat cold. And still sometimes teasing. Though even his taunts had lost the condescending edge they once had and now seemed more tradition than anything else.

"Yes well, it's a mission. Assigned by the King to protect the kingdom. Not assigned for Jane Turnkey and Dragon to have fun."

"Well, maybe we can have a bit at least anyway. Can I do some loop da loops with Gunther on board? Bet he'd have some fun then."

"No Dragon. No loop da loops. If for no other reason than the fact that I cannot hold on either when you fly upside down."

"Party pooper."

Jane laughed. "Sorry to ruin your fun."

Dragon sighed a large theatrical sigh. "Oh, that's alright. I suppose he's not all bad really. And if he's saved your life once already, that's a good indicator he would again if need be. I mean, think what a waste the first life saving would have been?"

Jane laughed again. "I love your take on things Dragon."

"Why thank you. Anyway, I suppose we can trust him. But if you want me to Jane, you can just say the word and that boy is a pile of charcoal."

"Thanks Dragon. I'll keep that in mind. Now let's finish up and go home. I'll have to start packing for our mission."

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><p>Please let me know what you think!<p> 


	5. Chapter 5: What Would Jane Do?

Thanks again to everyone for the reviews and suggestions. As per Dessert Maniac's request, this is a bit of Jane and Gunther interacting - though mostly from Gunther's POV.

As always, don't own.

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><p><em>.<em>

_What would Jane do?_

Those four little words have been his mantra for this entire mission. Well, at least since the totally unexpected turn of events for the mission unfolded. Still, the words haunt him, like a lyric he cannot get out of his mind: What would Jane do?

Obviously, when encountered with the destruction of Fena, Kippernia's town on the very border of the kingdom, Jane would do the most honorable. And the most impossible. Jane would rescue all twelve of the town's surviving women and children. There are two women, an old woman and her daughter who has a newborn of her own. The rest are very young, ranging from 12 to 3, an oddly even mixture of boys and girls.

Dragon of course, does whatever Jane does, and Gunther follows suit, wanting both to please Jane (though he is loathe to admit that point) and make as little conflict with the big green lizard as possible. He supposes too, it is honorable, though not exactly their orders, as he'd reminded Jane the day of the rescue.

"Orders? Gunther, who cares about orders? People have died. We can't leave what's left of their families here in this burning village. They haven't got a thing to eat. "

"But our mission was to scout Tunaria, to see what they were up to, what their strength and numbers looked like."

"Its obvious that what they're up to is raiding the outskirts. Obviously they have impressive numbers and strength to blow though a whole town."

"But-"

"We're sworn to protect the kingdom. That means the people in it. Everyone else has abandoned them. We can't do that too."

"Jane's right of course," Dragon piped up, nonchalantly scratching himself. "You two are-" his ears twitched. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"It's - here, hop on a sec, both of you. Something we should all probably see."

Dragon flew them up to the side of a nearby mountain where the peered around a corner into a ravine filled with ants. Gunther shook his head, not ants, the place was full to the brim with helmeted men, everywhere, bearing the colors of Tunaria. There-

"There must be thousands of them," Gunther murmured.

Jane had simply nodded.

"We- you were right, Jane. We have to get them to the castle, they'll be safe there. And then we can tell the king what we saw."

Jane nodded again, still staring down, obviously disturbed.

What would she do? He'd thought.

She'd try to comfort him, because that was Jane for you, he knew. She always wanted to be there for her friends, and oddly enough, after all the bickering, all the rivalry, they'd somehow become friends.

What would she do? He's not sure if taking her hand is the right answer, but it feels right.

She seems to take comfort from the action too, after what appears to first be surprise. She grips his hand firmly and nods, to herself mostly.

The rescue is a delicate operation. Its nearly nightfall, so no one wishes to travel now, but both Jane and Gunther are insistant that Fena is a terrible place to try to defend. So they take the survivors to a cave in that same mountain where they hole up for the night. Dragon sleeps with his back to the entrance, and Jane is curled in one of his scaley armpitts, a little townsgirl of five who bears a striking resemblance to the princess lavinia at that age, sleeps next to her.

He smiles and glances back to jane, who's eyes meet his. She smiles a bit at him, but the expression is uncertain, shy even. A sliver of moonlight shines on her hair and he wonders, before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep, "what would Jane do... if I kissed her?"

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><p>.<p>

Reviews are greatly appreciated!


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